BLACKBURN ROVERS legend Ronnie Clayton kicked off a soccer exhibition that stirred his own World Cup memories.

The Ewood hero was guest of honour at the Museum of Lancashire in his home town of Preston.

Ronnie saw memorabilia of matches and events from every World cup since it began in the 1930's.

And the displays brought back memories of his own taste of glory in the 1958 finals in Sweden, when a teenage Pele first made his mark on world football.

Ronnie played in the latter stages of the tournament, proudly wearing the England shirt he donned 35 times during his career.

He said: "We got knocked out by Russia, but we should have won.

"We hit the post and did everything but score.

"It was so different then. There were no warm-up games as there are now. It was just straight into the tournament.

"I'm hoping to see England do well this time although the likes of Argentina and Brazil will be good teams again.

"It's lovely to see this exhibition in Preston and I hope lots of people will come over from Blackburn and East Lancashire to see it."

Television footage, pictures of matches and scenes from past world cups are all on display at the museum, along with the flag of every qualifier for the 1998 finals.

The museum is open 10.30am to 5pm, Monday to Saturday. Admission is £1.10, or 50p for pensioners and children.

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